Corporate use of Innovation award

Created in 1999 by the merger of Benckiser, a German company incorporated in the Netherlands, and Britain's Reckitt & Colman, Reckitt Benckiser is now one of the world's biggest manufacturers of household, health and personal care products. It has demonstrated strong sales and profit growth, even in the recession, in large part because of the strength of its innovative and entrepreneurial corporate culture. Controversy is encouraged, bureaucracy avoided and performance rewarded. A diverse multinational workforce provides a wealth of perspectives on consumer behaviour.

Thousands of new ideas are screened every quarter. The company has a talent for dreaming up products that consumers did not realise they wanted. Some 35-40% of its sales come from products launched in the past three years.